Global Market Study on Bromine: Mercury Emission Control and Oil and Gas Drilling to Emerge as Most Attractive Application Segments Over the Forecast Period 2016 - 2024

This report provides forecast and analysis on the bromine market at global and regional level. The study provides historic data for 2015, and forecast from 2016 to 2024 based on volume (thousand metric tons) and revenue (US$ Mn). Global consumption and demand of bromine by each application and by each industry at the regional level has been studied thoroughly and included in this research study. It includes drivers and restraints for global bromine market along with their impact on demand during the forecast period. The report also offers insights on the opportunities available at global and regional level.

In order to provide users with a comprehensive view of the market, we have included detailed Porter’s five forces model of competition, listing company players with unique selling proposition. The study encompasses market attractiveness analysis, by application type, end-use industries, and derivatives.

Segmentation comprises demand for individual products and end-users in all the regions and important countries in the region. Application segmentation includes current and estimated demand of bromine for oil and gas drilling, flame retardants, biocides, purified terephthalic acid (PTA) synthesis, plasma etching, and others, which includes water treatment and mercury emission control. While end-use industries segmentation includes present and forecast demand for bromine by industries, such as chemicals, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, electronics, textiles and others. Chemicals segment includes agrochemicals, rubber and plastics and other chemical manufacturing.

Market numbers have been estimated based on the average demand and consumption analysis by each application segment and end-use industry segment. Market size and forecast for each product segment has been provided in the context of global and regional markets. Market dynamics prevalent in China, North America, Europe and the Middle East have been taken into account for estimating the growth of the global bromine market. Market estimates for this study have been based on volume, with revenue being derived from regional pricing trends. The bromine market has been analyzed based on expected demand. Market data for each segment is based on demand volume and corresponding revenue. Prices considered for the calculation of revenue are average regional prices obtained through primary quotes from numerous regional suppliers, distributors, and direct selling regional producers based on manufacturers’ feedback and application requirement. All market numbers have been derived on the basis of demand for elemental bromine in different applications in different regions. All existing key end-use industries have been considered and potential applications have been estimated on the basis of secondary sources and feedback by primary respondents. Regional consumption patterns have been considered while estimating the market for various end-users of elemental bromine in different regions. We have used the top-down approach to estimate the global bromine market, split by regions. The global application segment and end-use industry split of the market has been derived using the bottom-up approach, which is cumulative of each region’s demand. Regional demand is the summation of sub-regions and countries within a region. Market share of companies has been derived on the basis of revenues reported by key manufacturers. The market has been forecast based on constant currency rates

Several primary and secondary sources were consulted during the course of the study. Secondary sources include USGS, OneSource, Factiva, Hoover’s, Chemical Weekly, UN Comtrade, Industrial Minerals and company annual reports and publications among many others.

Bromine is a naturally occurring element, found in sea, lakes, and underground wells. It is widely used as a reactant and catalyst for manufacturing a variety of products, such as agrochemicals, biocides, water disinfectants, pharmaceuticals intermediates, dyes, completion fluids, flame retardants, and photographic chemicals. Dead-Sea is the richest resource of bromine with concentration of 10-12 gram per liter.

Bromine is a colorless soluble crystalline mineral halide salt which is extracted from brine pools. Various derivatives of bromine are used in a broad range of end-use industries, such as hydrogen bromide, organobromine, and clear brine fluids. Bromine and its derivatives are used in a wide range of applications, such as oil and gas drilling, flame retardants, biocides, plasma etching, and PTA synthesis (mercury emission control and water treatment). Key end-use industries of bromine include chemicals, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, electronics and textiles among others.

By application, oil and gas drilling segment is expected to grow at highest CAGR during the forecast period, whereas flame retardants segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.2%. The global demand for bromine is expected to increase over the forecast period despite it being banned in Europe, owing to concerns about its potential health- and environmental- impact. Demand for bromine is expected to be driven primarily by its usage in development of new applications, such as mercury emission control and flow battery. Owing to its wide-ranging applications, a demand-supply imbalance is a possibility in the future.

By end-use industry, bromine market is segmented into chemicals, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, electronics, textiles and other. The chemical segment is expected to remain the largest end-use industry for bromine during the forecast period. This segment is anticipated to witness linear growth during the forecast period. In the chemical end-use segment, ‘other chemical manufacturing’ is projected to witness the highest growth, registering a CAGR of 3.7% over the forecast period. Oil and gas is expected to grow due to growing demand for clear brine fluids for oil and gas drilling. However electronics segment is expected to witness sluggish growth due to government regulations on use of brominated flame retardants in consumer electronics.

On the basis of geography, the global bromine market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC) and Middle East and Africa (MEA). Asia Pacific (APAC) is expected to be the fastest growing segment during the forecast period. North America and Europe are mature markets for bromine and are inclined towards limited consumption of brominated flame retardants due to environmental regulations about its hazardous nature. However, bromine consumption in Latin America is expected to grow significantly in 2016 due to rising oil exploration operation in Mexico.